How tough are you really?

I will be the first to tell you I am no Rambo or Cammando wannbe. Far rom it. I was in the US Air Force from 68 to 72. Then an inactive member of the USAF reserves for 2 more.
I spent 2 1/2 years out of 4 in Asia. I then spent nearly 12 years in the Air National Guard,afterwards. From there I jumped ship so speak ( no puns intended) and enlisted in the Coast Guard for 6 more years.

I have 4 honorable discharges. Plus a multitude of chest ribbons,
unit citations and ended up as an E-6, with an E-7 promo waiting to happen.

I feel it was all for nothing....I hated every single moment of it. Nobody can ever say that I didn't support my counry,Presidents, or Flag. I did. It left me embittered. Disillusioned. Why? too much back stabbing, game playing, lying, power hunger nitwits, and no clearly defined goals. Lots of bluster and talk and orders. Thats it! No warm fuzzies.

My point here is;if you want to join the military and play soldier, then by all means do so in the branch of your choice. You will however, never be a Rambo or Cammando super stud. The real spooks of the service are nothing like Hollywood make believers. Most of become cops or security agents later.

The word hero is thrown around way too loosely these days.
I never was, never will be, and don't wanna be a hero of any kind.
I just want to be left alone, and survive as best as I can without a lot of hassles, and unwelcomed attention.

I was raised a city kid! I played in the woods along a river
as a kid, making camps, hiking , hunting small game, fishing, canoeing, swiming, snorkeling, diving for small things of interest. That was play.

In the real life, living out in the elements in a tent, eating rations, or MRE's, bathing in crappy field showers, using crude outdoor facilies, fighting mosquitoes, tending blistered feet,rashes,sickness, diarrhea, head lice,fighting off boredom by writing letters, playing cards or checkers, horse shoes, or cleaning out the tent after a rain, and delousing the sleeping bags, and personal effects, standing in lines outside in 100+ degree heat waiting to get in the chow hall on a regular base, was hell. Listening to stange noises in the night is no picnic either. If you aren't familar with outdoor night creature noises, you will not sleep very well. It was all a wake up call. I ain't no Rambo!

Have you ever been out in the middle of the woods in the pitch black of night, without a flashlight? It is spooky!
Just try to make your way around in the dark without a light source! All you do is get slapped and scratched in the face by branches and twigs, and stumble and fall over every little thing.

Ever been out in the middle of a dessert in the pitch blackness of night? Even spookier? Watch out for creepy crawlies.

Bugging out, and living in elements, to me is crazy. I would rather take my chances and hunker down at home, rather than face the rigors of the great out of doors again. I don't like to be in dirty sweaty stinky clothes. I like to bathe in good clean hot water, in a clean shower stall,not, in syphoned out swamy river water that is fed into a holding tank, chemically treated, and then pumped to a group of make shift shower heads.
I like fresh, warmed up, or grilled/fried food. I like a nice cold glass of pure clean fresh water on ice. I like a glass of wine in the evening. I enjoy my books, and magazines. I like to watch TV, listen to my stereo and play my old LP's.

I like electric lights, and air conditioning. I like a homes forced air heating. A crackling fire in the fire place on a winters night is nice. Not the stink of a gasoline fired space heater. Especially when 5 gal. only lasts about 4-6 hours, and in the middle of a cold freezing January night, you have to get up and go get another 5 gal. can from half way across the base camp.

Oh, lets not forget those on going course studies and tests you have to constantly prepare for either. You finish one. past the test,and here comes another one...you got 12-16 weeks to learn it on top of your daily job and details. What a load of hooey!

I do not like cleaning a rifle for the hell of it, just for something else to do. But, you have too, because your told to. I have been there.

No, you see, home IS where the heart is. I want to stay home.

So I prepare as best as I can, to defend it, take care of it, live in it. It is all I got, it is mine, and I want to keep it.

I guess I'd rather be killed defending my home and property, rather than be taken out in a woods somewhere by a long distance snipers shot. I would rather die in my home, rather than be attacked by a grizzly bear while sleeping.

Food poisoning from the lack of hygene is awful, I Know, I had it. Spent six weeks in a military hospital on IV's trying to shake off the effects. I lost 10 lbs just form the constant Hersey Squirts!

It is up to the individual, and the choice they make. Bug Out or stay. Unless an atomic bomb is screaming down on my city for sure, I will choose to stay home. And even then, your only to get about a 10 minute warning anyway. How far can you get in 10 minutes?

Roughing it and camping out in a nuclear winter does not sound fun too me!

Go or stay? It is a tough call. I just know, I ain't Rambo, and I hate the elements, so the choice is easy for me!